Bye-Elections: Don’t Hand Nominations To Highest Bidders, YIAGA Urges Parties

Advocacy group, YIAGA Africa has urged political parties to follow the Electoral Act 2022’s provisions as they conduct primaries to field candidates across two senatorial districts, four federal constituencies, and three state constituencies in nine states of the Federation ahead of the bye-elections on February 3, 2024.

Naija News reports that YIAGA Africa’s Executive Secretary, Samson Itodo, asked the 19 political parties to follow their constitutions while nominating candidates for the bye-elections on Channels Television’s Politics Today show on Thursday.

Along with urging parties not to give their nominations to the highest bidders, he also warned them that with the tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of naira that political parties are demanding from candidates in exchange for nomination forms, Nigeria is rapidly becoming a plutocratic state.

Itodo stated that parties must give notice to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) 21 days prior to primaries in accordance with the Electoral Act 2022. Additionally, he stated that it is against the law for parties to alter the primary location and date without first alerting INEC.

He emphasized that the substitution of candidates by parties should adhere to the law and urged INEC to void primaries if the election umpire does not witness them.

The YIAGA boss warned that Nigerians will not accept excuses from parties for the upcoming by-elections since they have had the time to study the Electoral Act and comply with its provisions.